site.bta Bulgaria May Attract Investments in High-Tech Sector if It Eases Blue Card Procedure

Bulgaria May Attract Investments in High-Tech Sector if It Eases Blue Card Procedure

Sofia, February 17 (BTA) - Bulgaria may offset a shortage of
high-tech specialists by speeding Blue Card procedures, said
InvestBulgaria Agency Executive Director Stamen Yanev in a BTA
video interview on Tuesday.

The Blue Card is an approved EU-wide work permit allowing
high-skilled non-EU citizens to work and live in any country
within the European Union, excluding Denmark, Ireland and the
UK.

By changing secondary legislation Bulgaria expects to attract
specialists from countries in the grip of geopolitical conflicts
 such as Ukraine, said Stamenov. He commented that a large
number of Ukrainian Bulgarians may come to work in the software
industry and receive above average salaries.

Changes to secondary legislation will ease the procedure for
granting a Blue Card and scrap the so-called market test carried
 out by the Employment Agency, following calls by business
representatives.

Citing data by the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association, Yanev said
 that Bulgaria is attractive for making business in high
value-added sectors such as finance, accounting and high
technology.

A poll by the Association has suggested that Sofia alone has a
potential to create over 80,000 job vacancies in this sector.
Stamenov said that direct and indirect effects of this type of
investment would be enormous even if these projections were
halved.

A strategy for attracting investments is being drafted and its
preparation will involve non-governmental organizations, state
institutions, local authorities, and international auditing and
consultancy companies. It is expected to be completed within six
 to nine months, said Yanev.

Preliminary central bank figures, released on Monday, indicate
that in 2014 foreign direct investments totalled 1.181 billion
euro. Yanev recalled that between January and December 2013
preliminary figures were lower but later swelled to 1.275
billion euro, voicing hope that the final figures will be
higher.